Counting mechanism



B. E. SEEMEL- COUNTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 1, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR July 6, 1943.

COUNTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 1, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I VEIQTbR l E BY3W. V I

ATTORNEY 3 B. E. SEEMEL 2,323,492

y 1943- I B; E. SEEME L 2,323,492

COUNTING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 1, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 e IlillllllllINVENTOR B BY W7 ATILORNE S Patented July 6, 1943 GOUNTING llIECHANISMBruno E. Seemel, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Automatic CoinwrappingMachine Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication September 1, 1939, Serial No. 293,032

5 Claims.

My invention relates to mechanisms for counting in successive lots orseries, each of a predetermined number. With such mechanisms thecounting is stopped automatically at the end of each lot or series, forexample by rendering the counting mechanism inoperative, by stopping theflow of articles to the counting mechanism, etc, and is re-started anewfor the counting of each new or successive lot, by action of theoperator or otherwise when ready. For simplicity I shall referhereinafter to coin counting mechanisms but it will be understood that minvention is applicable to counting other articles, operations, etc.

Heretofore mechanisms of this type have employed hinged spring-pressedlatches, or stoppawls, so-called, to engage stop pins, or stopposts,so-called, to stop the counting at the end of each series. The purposeof such an arrangement is to cause the latch to snap under or beyond thestop pin immediately the stop pin is removed from the path of the latchto start a new count, and thus permit the mechanism to restart eventhough, for example, an operator returns the stop pin toward itsstopping position quickly. However, a fault of this prior arrangement isthat, should a latch spring break, the broken spring may wedge the latchin an advanced position. This may cause miscounting thereafter that maycontinue through many series before the error is discovered. The patentto Book No. 1,160,830 November 16, 1915, is an example of such priorknown mechanisms.

My present invention avoids this fault. Generally speaking, I eliminatethe spring-pressed latch and substitute a simple shoulder to strike thestop pin to stop the counting at the end of each series. This shouldermay be mounted immovably on the counting mechanism or constitute anintegral part of some portion of the counting mechanism. Then to permitthe shoulder to pass its stop pin in the event that the stop pin isreturned quickly toward its shoulderengaging position, I provide adevice which, once a stop pin is removed from the shoulder path,thereafter holds the stop pin out of the shoulder path until countinghas been resumed. There may be a plurality of shoulders to permitcounting series of different numbers of coins, and also one or aplurality of shoulder-engaging stop pins, all as will be understood. Itwill be understood too that, speaking broadly, it is immaterial to myinvention whether the counting is discontinued by rendering themechanism inoperative or otherwise, although I prefer rendering themechanism inoperative at the end of each series as appears hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of my inventionas applied to a conventional form of coin counting mechanism; itsapplication to other forms of counters and to other means for stoppingcounting will be understood therefrom. In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame with the top of the cover removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section substantially on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan viewof mechanism near the bottom, substantially on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3.Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a considerable portion of the mechanism.Fig. 6 is a perspective of the stop pin.

As shown in the drawings, coins may be delivered to the countingmechanism by a rotating centrifugal disc I A guide 2 directs the coinsagainst a notched or star wheel 3 of the count ing mechanism, and adriven wheel 4 thrusts, or assists in thrusting, the coins along thestar wheel (when the latter is free to turn) so that each passing cointurns the star wheel one step. A support or supporting means of somekind, 3a, for example, a floor member or casing as illustrated, supportsdirectly or indirectly the star wheel 3 and the mechanisms hereaftermentioned. The star wheel 3 is attached to and drives a shaft 5 which inturn drives a conventional form of register 6; the latter thereforeregisters the number of coins passing the star wheel. To stop thecounting on the completion of a count of a predetermined number ofcoins, a gear 1 is attached to the star wheel shaft 5 to drive anothergear or stop wheel 8 of such relative size that the latter makes onerotation on the passage of fifty coins past the star wheel 3; to permitthe coins to be counted in further different series, a third gear 9, orsecond counting wheel, is arranged to be driven by gear 8 and is of suchrelative size that it makes one rotation on the passage of forty coinspast the star wheel 3. A ratchet wheel in is attached to shaft 5, thenumber of teeth of winch equal the number of coin-receiving notches inthe star wheel 3; a coacting pawl ll hinged at IE to the floor of thecasing of the apparatus and pressed by a spr n 23 against the ratchetwheel ii), serves to stop each successive step-by-step movement of thestar wheel 3 when the star wheel is in proper position .to receive thenext coin. It will be observed of course that each movement of the starwheel causes ratchet II] to swing pawl II on its pivot I2. The cover I3of the apparatus is hinged horizontally at It, and carries a downwardlyprojecting stop pin I5 for cooperation with shoulders on the stop wheels8 and 9 as later described. A lever arrangement I6 permits the operatorto raise the cover I 3 momentarily to raise the stop pin from theshoulder paths. Obviously the weight of the cover I3 tends to return thestop pin to its lowest position automatically, namely into the path of ashoulder, whenever the operator releases the lever arrangement l6;customarily this tendency is supplemented by a spring IS. A single stoppin I5 being used in the instance illustrated, this stop pin is mountedin a slot I9 in the cover plate It so that it can be disposed atdifferent positions with respect to the stop wheels 8 and II; in thepresent instance the stop pin has four counting positions 24 in which itinterrupts the machine operation at the end of the counting of each lotor series of twenty, twenty-five, forty or fifty coins per lot, and afifth or zero position in which it permits continuous countingindefinitely. To assure accurate and secure location of the stop pin I5,the underside of the cover I3 is provided with a slot 2!] at each ofthese pin positions, the upper portion 2| of the stop pin, bearing onthe top surface of the cover, is threaded to the lower portion of thepin, and the lower portion of the pin is provided with a cross pin 22 toseat in the slots 20; when the nut 2I is loose, the stop pin can bemoved along the slot I9 to any of its positions 24, and then bytightening the nut 2| the cross p n 22 can be drawn into thecorresponding slot 251, and thereby the stop pin accurately and securelylocated.

As will be understood from the foregoing, the mechanism as thusdescribed is substantially a conventional form of counting mechanism.

According to my invention, as before indicated, in lieu of the customaryspring-pressed latches to engage a stop pin I5 for example, I providewhat may be a simple shoulder or shoulders to stop the counting; such ashoulder may be entirely immovable on the part which carries it.Conveniently such shoulders are mounted on or formed integral with suchwheels as B and 9, and which are designed to render the mechanisminoperative at the end of each series, although this is not an essentialof the invention. The mechanism shown being intended for four differ entseries of counts, the stop wheel 8 is provided with two shoulders 26 and21 and the stop wheel 9 with two shoulders 28 and 29, all provided (as amatter of convenience) by attaching bar-like iembers to the tops of therespective wheels. As will be understood from prior practices, theshoulder 26 is disposed to engage the stop pin I5 in both the fifty andthe twenty-five positions; the shoulder 21 is located to engage it onlyWhen the pin is in the twenty-five position; shoulder 28 on wheel 9 willengage it in both the twenty and the forty positions; shoulder 29 willengage it only when the pin is in the twenty position.

In operation therefore, the stop pin being, for example, in thetwenty-five position and engaged by the shoulder 21 as shown in Fig. 5,and the operator being ready for the count of a new series or lot ofcoins, the operator presses on lever I6 and thus lifts the cover I3 andthereby lifts the stop pin I5 from the shoulder 21. Stop wheel 8 beingthus freed to turn, this permits the thrust of the coin wheel 2 on acoin in a notch in star wheel 3 to turn the latter a step, and this cointhen departs. This passage of a coin is registered by the register 6,and also the counting wheels 8 and 9 are turned corresponding distances;the pawl II is swung on its pivot IE on the passage of the coin butimmediately is moved back into the next notch of its ratchet I0 by itsspring 23 so that the star wheel turns no further than it is forced todo by the thrust of a coin on it. The turning of stop wheel 8 havingpassed shoulder member 21 underneath the stop pin, the cover I3 can nowbe permitted to fall to return the stop pin I5 toward the shoulder path.Should the fall be delayed by continued pressure on lever I5 untilshoulder member 21 passes beyond stop pin l5, the stop pin will returnto the shoulder path as soon as the operator releases lever I5. On theOther hand should cover I3 be allowed to fall when this shoulder memberis underneath the stop pin, the stop pn first comes to rest on theshoulder member, but ultimately the passage of ,another or further coinswill carry the shoulder member from beneath the stop pin, and then theweight of the stop pin and cover I3 (with or without the aid of coverspring I8) will restore the stop pin I5 to the shoulder path. In eitherevent therefore, the stop pin I5 is restored to the shoulder path whilethe new counting is under way. In its twenty-five position, the stop pinI5 is not only in the path of shoulder 21 but also in the path ofshoulder 26 as before pointed out. The new counting continues thereforeuntil shoulder 26 strikes the stop pin I5. This occurs on the passage ofthe twenty-fifth coin of the new series past the coin wheel of course.This obstruction to the rotation of stop wheel 8 makes further rotationof the star Wheel 3 impossible, i. e., renders the mechanisminoperative, and thus stops the counting. The cycle is now complete.When the operator is ready for the count of another series, he may againmanipulate the lever I 6 in the manner described above, and such secondnew series is completed by shoulder 2? again striking the stop pin.Usually the driving wheel 4 acts 0n the coins by friction only, andtherefore may rotate cont nuously, i. e., even while the star wheel 3 isat rest and no coins are passing. Customarily, I bevel each shouldermember as at 33 so that the pin I 5 may ride down the back of eachshoulder member more or less slowly rather drop abruptly from the top ofthe member to its lowest position. By a repositioning of the stop pinalong its slot I9, the mechanism can be made to count series of fifty,forty or twenty coins, instead of series of twenty-five, as will now beunderstood; in its zero position the stop pin is out of the paths of allshoulders and therefore in this position the mechanism can count anynumber of coins whatsoever without interruption.

The machine thus operates satisfactorily, providing care is taken not torelease a stop pin for restoration to a shoulder path until after theshoulder that has been hearing against the pin has passed underneath orbeyond the pin. Need for such care sometimes slows down the operationhowever. In order to permit the most rapid operation therefore, it isdesirable that a stop pin be releasable for restoration immediately onwithdrawal from a shoulder path; for example, it is desirable that anoperator be permitted to release the lifting lever I6 immediately afterhe has pressed it to withdraw the stop pin l from the path' of ashoulder to start a new count. As before indicated, I have accomplishedthis by providing a device which becomes operative on the movement ofthe stop pin from the shoulder path to thereafter hold the stop pin outof the shoulder path until the new count has gotten under way to atleast such an extent that the engaged shoulder has moved from itspin-engaging position. To this end, preferably, an arm or lever 35 issupported at a place that is substantially fixed, at least at the timesthe shoulders approach the stop pin; i. e., the member 34 does nottravel with the shoulders. For example 34 may be hinged to, say, thefloor of the casing, and a projection 35 is provided on cover I3reaching to this arm or lever 34; the arm or lever 34 is locatedunderneath the other mechanism of the counter for convenience, and forlike reason is hinged on the pawl pivot l2. The spring 36 anchored tothe casing, moves the arm 34 underneath the projection 35 whenever thecover is raised to withdraw the stop pin from a shoulder path to permita new count to start. To withdraw the arm 34 from underneath theprojection 35, the arm is correlated to, preferably, the pawl H of thecounting mechanism. This ratchet pawl I! is arranged to engage, say, apin 31 on the lever arm 35 as this pawl is swung by the turning of thestar wheel 3 by a passing coin, and thereby move the arm from underneaththe projection; the pawl H may be provided with a tail or extension 38reaching to a convenient location, as illustrated.

It will be observed that correlation of the pinn withholding device, e.g., arm or lever 34, to the stop pin carrier, such as the cover !3, is asimple means for enabling a single such device to control either anumber of stop pins mounted on the same carrier or a single stop pinmovable on the carrier to a number of positions. In the presentinstance, the counting having been stopped at the end of one series byone of the shoulders 25, 21, 28 and 29 coming against the stop pin Hi,the operator, when ready to resume counting, simply presses the lever 16sufiiciently to raise cover l3 enough to raise the stop pin from thepath of the shoulder engaging it. This also raise projection above thelevel of arm at, and the spring 36 immediately swings arm 34 underneaththe projection 35. The operator need pay no attention to the time ofrelease of the operating lever 56, He may release it immediately afterraising the stop pin from the shoulder path. Should he do so, the coverand its stop pin l5 either remain raised, being held up by arm 34operating on projection 35, or they fall slightly until projection 35strikes arm 34. In either case the stop pin it is retained above theshoulder path. When a coin passes star wheel 3, however. the turning ofthe ratchet ill thereby turns the pawl I i, and this in turn acts on thearm pin 31 to turn the lever arm 35 from underneath the projection 35.The weight of the cover and stop pin, with or without the aid of thecover spring It, carries the cover and stop pin to shoulderengagingposition, either immediately or in due course, since release of the arm34 by pawl ll enables arm spring 36 to thrust arm 34 only against theside of projection 35 (Fig. 5).

It will now be observed that my invention pro vides a counting mechanismof the kind indicated that cannot miscount by reason of any failure ofits latch mechanism. Should the spring 36 break, the operator may havedifficulty in restarting new counts if operating the machine rapidly,but that difiiculty will serve only to call his attention to the factthat the apparatus has been damaged; so long as he continues to use themachine thereafter, the immovable nature of the stop shoulders requiresit to count accurately, and in case of necessity he can continue usingthe machine indefinitely with this spring broken, although perhaps at aslower speed than he has been accustomed to. It will be observed alsothat adequate pin-engaging shoulders can be provided in various obviousways, and that the immovability of such shoulders herein referred to, isimmovability in the direction or for the purposes herein pointed out;and that obviously both the device and the arrangement for preventingthe restoration of a pin to a shoulder path, as well as the means fordiscontinuing counting at the end of each series, can assume any ofvarious other forms, and that any such device can be renderedinoperative at appropriate times by means of other relations of the sameto the counting mechanism. In general, my invention is not limited tothe construction and operation illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand described above, except as appears in the claims hereafter.

I claim:

1. In a counting mechanism having a support, a stop means carried bysaid support and which moves in a path as the counting proceeds, andstop pin means carried by the support and including a stop pin which ispositionable in the path of said stop means for engagement by the stopmeans to stop the counting and which is removable from said path topermit resumption of counting, a movable member, also carried by saidsupport and held at a substantially fixed place with respect to saidsupport as said stop means approaches said stop pin, biased to move intothe path of said stop pin means, on the movement thereof to remove thestop pin from the path of the stop means, to prevent replacement of thestop pin in said path, and means to render said member ineffective tocontrol the position of the stop pin with respect to said stop means,responsive to the resumption of operation of the counting mechanismafter counting has been resumed.

2. In a counting mechanism, a support, a member mounted on said supportand driven as the counting proceeds, and provided with a shoulderimmovable on the member but moving in a path as said member is driven,stop pin means carried by said support and including a stop pinpositionable in the path of said shoulder to stop counting, said meansbeing movable to remove the stop pin from said path to permit resumptionof counting, a movable member, also carried by said support and held ata substantially fixed place with respect to the support as said shoulderapproaches said stop pin, biased to move into the path of said stop pinmeans, on the movement thereof to remove the stop pin from the path ofsaid shoulder, to prevent the replacement of the stop pin in theshoulder path, and means operable by the counting mechanism to renderthe second mentioned member ineffective to control the position of thestop pin with respect to said shoulder.

3. In counting mechanism, a support, a member mounted on said supportand driven as the counting proceeds and provided with a shoulder whichmoves in a path as said member is driven, means mounted on said supportand including a stop pin positionable in the path of said shoulder tostop counting and which is adjustable to remove the stop pin from saidpath to permit counting to be resumed, said means tending to return thestop pin to said path automatically, and a member, also carried by saidsupport and held at a substantially fixed place with respect to saidsupport as said shoulder approaches said stop pin, positionable in thepath of said means to prevent the automatic return of the stop pin tosaid path of said shoulder, the second mentioned member being associatedwith the counting mechanism to be moved, by continuing the counting, togive said stop pin access to said shoulder.

4. In counting mechanism, a support, a member carried by said supportand driven as the counting proceeds and provided with a shoulder whichmoves in a path as said member is driven, means carried by said supportand including a stop pin positionable in the path of said shoulder tostop counting and which is adjustable to remove the stop pin from saidpath to permit counting to be resumed, said means tending to return thestop pin to said path automatically, and means having a portion to moveinto the path of the first mentioned means on the movement thereof toremove the stop pin from the shoulder path to prevent the automaticreturn of the stop pin to the shoulder path, the last mentioned meansbeing carried by the support at a substantially fixed place with respectto the support as said shoulder approaches said stop pin and engagingthe counting mechanism for actuation thereby on actuation of thecounting mechanism in further counting, to move said portion to give thestop pin access to said shoulder.

5. In counting mechanism, a support, a wheel,

mounted on said support, driven as the counting proceeds and providedwith a shoulder which moves in a path as said wheel is driven, a stoppin, means mounted on said support and carrying the stop pin andautomatically tending to position the stop pin in the path of saidshoulder to stop counting and which is movable to withdraw the stop pinfrom said path to permit counting to be resumed, and an arm, hinged onsaid support at a place that is substantially fixed with respect to thesupport as said shoulder approaches the stop pin, to swing into the pathof said means on movement thereof to remove the stop pin from theshoulder path and to prevent the return of said means to a positionwherein the stop pin is in the path of the shoulder, the countingmechanism carrying means advancing with further counting to swing saidarm out of the path of said means to permit the stop pin to reenter theshoulder path.

6. In a counting mechanism including a stop Wheel driven by the countingmechanism and provided with a shoulder which moves in a path as saidwheel is driven, stop pin means, a hinged device carrying said stop pinmeans to remove the stop pin means from the path of said shoulder uponactuation of said hinged device and automatically tending to restore thestop pin means to the path of said shoulder, a star wheel, a pawloperable by the star wheel, and a hinged arm swinging into the path ofsaid hinged device on the actuation thereof to maintain the stop pinmeans out of the path of the shoulder, said hinged arm being operated bythe pawl for removal by the pawl from the path of the hinged device onactuation of the pawl by the star wheel.

BRUNO E. SEEMEL.

